Centene Q1 2025 Earnings Recap

Decent Quarter Despite Elevated Medicaid Flu Season

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Centene was the third of the “Big Six Payors” to report earnings on Friday morning before the market opened, and I thought it was a strong showing. Still, the stock finished the day down 6.5% after news broke that their Medicaid book of business had $130 million in additional utilization spend beyond forecast due to the heavy flu season. However, the stock has since rallied back and is now only down ~3%, as most investors have started to step away from the ledge on what I believe was a solid quarter.

Revenue was up 15% quarter over quarter to over $46 billion, with stronger-than-anticipated growth in ACA and tailwinds from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which drove higher revenue in Medicare PDP as Centene assumes more risk from CMS. I had a chance to read through the earnings transcript and dig into the 10-Q, and here are some key takeaways.

Medicaid